The claims were made by convicted heroin smuggler Renae Lawrence and broadcast on the Ten Network yesterday.
“She said that she knew the marijuana was in the boogie bag, but the person who was supposed to be at the airport at the same time didn’t turn up,” Lawrence said.
“She told me and the other prisoner that she’d done it more than this time. She said she’d brought the drugs before three times.”
Corby’s 20 year sentence was reduced by five years in 2012 by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudihono and she is now on parole.
Lawrence also alleged that Schapelle Corby faked a mental breakdown by “acting crazy” while in Bali’s infamous Kerobokan Prison to get a shorter sentence, a claim that may work against the troubled former inmate who has already been warned by Indonesian authorities that her parole can be revoked .
Corby’s family reacted with a strong denial in a statement yesterday. It reads: “Schapelle did not confide in Renae Lawrence about any matter relating to her arrest in Indonesia/Bali,” the statement read.
“The claims by Renae Lawrence that Schapelle confessed to her that she had knowingly smuggled the marijuana in her boogie board bag are false.
“Schapelle denies ever making any such confession to Renae Lawrence or to anyone else. The further claims by Renae Lawrence that Schapelle had done so on many occasions are preposterous, maliciously false and a creation of her own fantasy.”
Bryce Corbett, news editor atThe Australian Women’s Weekly, interviewed Lawrence in Kerobokan Prison in 2013 and he says that he wonders about Renae’s motivation for speaking out now.
“The Australian prisoners in Bali are acutely aware they have a currency in the media here at home,” says Corbett. “And they are equally aware that since Schapelle left Kerobokan, that interest has been waning by the day. I can’t know what Schapelle may or may not have said to Renae when they were in prison together, but I do find Renae’s timing interesting.”
Lawrence was arrested in 2005 when authorities discovered 2.6 kilograms of heroin strapped to her body. Originally sentenced to life in prison, Lawrence is now serving a 20 year term following a successful appeal in 2006.
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